Unbroken Promise
by riversonng
Summary: One tragedy, One memory. "She's hidding from her feelings, Jim. She's putting that wall up again, the one I broke down. It's back." He was ready, she was ready to start their relationship but one moment can change a life forever. He watches as she fights for her life, their life. caskett, AU
1. she's a dreamer

**She's a dreamer**

She chuckled and pressed her lips against his and licked the bottom of his lips begging for entrance. "Rick, please." She mumbled, her lips still pressed against his.

"Kate, you need to get to work. Gates is scary enough; I don't need her to be on my back_ again_ for you coming in late." He told her, pulling away. She let out a long sigh and nodded, stole one last kiss from him and went to put on her shoes.

"I'll see you after work. In the mean time, I want you to write _Frozen Heat_. Understood?" She told him sternly and he nodded, "Yes m'am."

She chuckled and opened the door, grabbing her purse with her gun and badge and made her way out. He watched her walk away and closed the door when he saw her go down the hall to the elevator. He sighed and walked to his study room pulling his computer out of the desk and opening it. He sat on his chair and put the computer on him and wrote a few lines of Nikki Heat before resting his head back and closing his eyes. _Just a small nap_, he thought.

Downstairs, Kate Beckett made her way to her patrol car, got in and started the engine, making her way from Castle's loft to the crime scene. Because of traffic in the city, Detective Beckett made it just as Lanie was putting the body in ME truck. "Wait, Lanie." She called out after her friend, who turned around hearing her best friend's voice.

"Kate, there you are. I thought you were getting your freak on with writer boy again." Lanie gave her friend the look and Kate just bit down on her lower lip and tried to hide her blushing.

"How does it look?" She asked her.

"Like you've got some explaining to do." Kate eyed her friend and pointed down, "The Vic Lanie."

"Oh, COD is multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body but only one was fatal. The one that entered her neck here." She explained pointing just below the victim's right ear. "Is the bullet that killed her. Burn marks around the wound say the shooter was at close range. I'll know more when I get her to the lab." Kate nodded thanked her friend and let her leave with the body.

She looked around carefully around the crime scene and decided to meet up with Ryan and Esposito. After making her usual call around the crime scene, she got in her car and made her way back to the precinct.

Later that evening, after Kate Beckett had broken the news to the victim's husband and son, she sat quietly at her desk looking over the murder board. It was late and she knew Rick would be waiting for her for dinner, but she felt connected to this case somehow. She needed to find the girl's killer, for the sake of the victim's husband and son. It wasn't fair to them and she needed to give them closer.

"Beckett, what are you still doing here? I told you all to go home, it's been a rough day, go home relax and come back tomorrow with an open mind." Captain Victoria 'Iron' Gates walked out of her office and stood in front of the Detective's desk.

"Sorry Sir, I'll go. It's just, I feel as if I'm missing something." She bit her lip and turned around to face her captain.

"Go home, come back tomorrow with an open mind. It's late and I'm sure that writer is impatiently waiting for you to come home." Kate nodded and watched her captain walk back to her office. She took her bag and walked to the elevator, taking one last glance at the murder board.

She walked outside in the crowded New York City and walked a few block until she reached her car that was park in front of a bakery. She looked inside and smiled as she saw two little girls helping their father make some pastries. She watched them for a little before getting in her car and putting her window down, letting the fresh breeze of the big apple into her car. She started the engine and drove off.

She didn't get far, maybe a few minutes of driving before she noticed that she was dead tired. Her eyes had trouble focusing on the road and the darkness of the streets wasn't helping. She took a left and decided to take the long way to the loft, going where there was the most light. As she turned, she saw from far the truck turn the opposite side as her and drive straight towards her. She swerved trying to avoid the truck but it still hit the driver's side, sending her small patrol car rolling upside down until it hit the brick wall of a building.

The last thing Kate remembered before her world went black was Castle calling out her name, begging her to stay alive. _Don't die on me Kate, Stay with me. Stay with me, Kate. I love you. I love you Kate._

Someone would have said the scene looked catastrophic, it did. The smashed up, turned over patrol car leaning on the brick wall of a building, the flipped truck with the unconscious man sitting in it, with a pretty bad gash on his forehead. But with the size difference of the cars, anyone with a brain would say the man would make it out fine. As for the woman sitting unconsciously in the car, people would fear that her heart had stopped beating or she'd come out pretty beat up.

People stood crowded around the scene, a few children, and some elder people. Others just coming back from work never expecting to see this. Everyone clung to their phone, each calling 911 to inform of the same tragic accident.

On the other side of town, Richard Castle walked around the house preparing a dinner for his beloved Kate. Today was the day he'd been waiting for, it was the day he was going to ask her to be Mrs. Richard Castle. He had it all set, the candles, the romantic food, the flowers. All he was missing was Kate Beckett herself. He knew she worked late and she had informed him earlier of the case she had just got and she told him she would stay just a little longer to try and find a lead. He told her it was fine, he would have more time to prepare her surprise.

It was getting late and Rick had to admit he was starting to get worried, but Kate was a grown woman, she was probably on her way home and she was just stuck in traffic. He sat on the couch and put on the news and rested his head on the edge of the couch.

He didn't expect to fall asleep, especially not when he woke up at 3 a.m. to his phone ringing. He was confused at first as of where he was but when he saw that he was in his living room; he got his senses together and answered his phone.

"Hello" He said sleepily.

"Richard Castle?" The voice on the other line said, just above a whisper.

"Yes, this is him." He was confused, who would call this early in the morning anyways. He looked around and searched for Kate and figured she might have gone into the bed room for a good night of sleep and not on the couch like he did. Wait, but wouldn't she have woken him up when she got home?

"Rick, this is Jim." He frowned, why would _he_ be calling so early in the morning?

"What is?"

"It's Kate." Rick stood more awake then he's ever been by the broken sound in his voice. What was wrong with his Kate?

"What is it? What's wrong with her?"

"She was in a car accident, a bad one. They say she's bad." Jim tried his best to stay strong. He'd already lost his wife; he didn't need to lose his daughter too.

"I'll be right there. Where is she?" Jim told him where they where and Rick hung up, getting changed quickly and made his way over there as soon as he could.

On his way, he gave a call to his mother, who was up in the Hamptons and a quick call to Alexis who was attending Stanford University. He arrived shortly after his call with Jim and made his way up to the floor Jim has said they were.

"Jim, where is she?" He asked walking up to the man sitting in the waiting room on an old cranky chair with his head resting in his palms.

"I don't know they took her out for scans a few hours ago, haven't heard from them since." Rick sat down next to the broken man and put his hand on his shoulder for comfort.

"When did this happen?" He asked.

Jim shrugged and looked at him, "I don't know the exact time. They said she was rushed in at 10 p.m. but they couldn't reach me until one in the morning. They couldn't perform any major things without my consent so she was in critical stage for a few hours. Then I tried calling you, because I know you and my daughter are, you know an item and I didn't have your phone number."

Rick raised a brow and asked, "Then how did you reach me?"

"The doctors gave me Kate's phone. Wasn't as smashed as I thought it would be." He took it out of his pocket and chuckled as he unlocked it.

"Ever since Katie was 4 she had 4 favorite numbers. When I saw her phone was locked I remembered the numbers she always used as a kid and knowing my daughter I figured she wouldn't have grown out of it." Rick chuckled and smiled picturing his girlfriend as an innocent little girl.

"I think I should call the boys and Lanie, they would want to know that Kate's here." Rick told the older man.

"Rick, you may call them but please ask them not to come straight away. I felt like the world was closing in on me when I was last here with everyone from her team. I mean, please. It would mean a lot to me."

"Always Jim. I'll tell them." He smiled briefly and excused himself.

They weren't sure how long both sat there waiting for someone to come talk to them. They had been here for hours and no one could help them. Finally sometime in the morning, just as Rick arrived with some coffee for Jim and himself, a middle aged doctor came out.

"Family of Kate Beckett?" He called out to the almost empty waiting room.

Rick and Jim got up and turned their attention to the doctor.

"My name is Dr. Monroe and I'm going to be Miss Beckett's doctor for now. Would you like to follow me so we can discuss our options?" Jim and Rick glanced at each other for a few seconds before following the doctor to a room with x-rays on the walls.

"Kate Beckett suffered severe trauma. She has a compound fracture on her left elbow, but nothing that can't be fixed with a cast. She will have a lot of bruises and cuts, that's for sure but what I'm here to discuss with you are the possibilities offered to you with the severity of Kate Beckett's brain trauma. She suffered from swelling and bleeding in the brain and we gave her medication to try to get the swelling down but I'm afraid that if she doesn't respond to it, we'll have to bring her into surgery." He explained to them.

Jim looked more confused than ever, "What kind of surgery?"

The doctor let out a sigh and offered the two to sit down. Rick was oddly quiet but he was just trying to let it all in.

"This surgery is a delicate operation in Miss Beckett's case because of the severity of the swelling and bleeding. If I be honest with you, there's a 60% chance that the operation will succeed."

"And with the other 40%? Are you saying she could die?" Rick spoke up, trying to hold back the tears.

"Yes, that or she might come out with sequels from the surgery. The surgery itself consists of removing the upper part of the skull for an undetermined amount of time, until the swelling comes down and putting it back afterwards. The surgery has risks but it can also save her life."

Jim sighed and looked at the x-ray images of his daughter's broken body. "How long until we know if the treatment worked?"

Dr. Monroe looked at his chart and shrugged. "In this scenario, we're giving it 24 hours; if she doesn't respond then we'll have to get her into surgery."

Jim nodded and glanced at Rick, "Do it. Do whatever it takes to save my daughter. I couldn't bear to lose another loved one. And I'm pretty sure he would die if she did." He told the doctor, pointing at Rick's frozen frame.

Rick was shocked, just this morning they were happy and smiling and he was going to propose and now they were telling him that she could die. The world is small and dangerous, preserve the memories, anything can happen. You don't know how much time you've got with someone. It could all go away. Disappear in the blink of an eye.

"Is my daughter awake?" Dr. Monroe nodded briefly and explained, "She's awake but isn't responding to a lot. The bleeding is blocking her view which is making her temporarily blind."

"Can we go see her?" He nodded and told them the room and walked part of the route with them until he needed to go and check some other files.

"Jim you go in and see her, it's just one at a time. You go and see her, I'll wait out here."

Eventually Jim came out, his eyes red probably from crying. He said he needed to get some fresh air and to go in there to keep her company. He nodded, patted the older man's shoulder and walked in.

Rick couldn't bear the pain. His loved one broken from every bone in her fragile body. He watched her sleepless form on the table. There was wires attached to her body, they were everywhere and he blinked trying to fight the image threatening to stay engraved into his memory forever. Her right arm, from the wrist until half way on her upper arm lay in a careful white cast, placed gently on her chest.

He walked up to her and whipped the tear. "Hey there Kate. Can you hear me?" She groaned a little and mumbled something, blinking her eyes rapidly before closing them again.

"You're going to be fine, I promise. Just stay strong." He sat down next to her and did his best to keep a straight strong face.

"Hurt." She whispered as the tear slid down the side of her face.

"I know it does baby, but you'll be fine. I promise I'll do my best for you to get better."

"Baby." She groaned, trying to lift her arm.

"Kate stay put, you need to move as less as possible."

"No, baby." She groaned again and coughed loudly. Nurses ran into the room as Kate emptied the contain of her stomach.

"That would be because of the brain injury." The nurse explained to him, cleaning her up a little before getting to the door. Her eyes closed lightly and she fell into a sudden sleep. Pain over took her and the only way she could escape it was to sleep for a short amount of time.

"I love you." He whispered pressing his lips on her hand and let the tear fall. He let go of her hand and walked out the room. He couldn't do it, watch her lifeless body on the table. He couldn't. He needed her smiles back, he needed his _always_ back.

He leaned on the wall a few rooms down from where Kate's was and fell down gripping his face in his hands. "Why?" He yelled. Nobody bothered to look at him; he didn't want anyone to look at him. The woman he loved was unresponsive in a hospital bed in between life and death with a life threatening brain injury.

He cried and cried. He couldn't bear the pain. She was supposed to be strong; she was the strongest person he knew. But now, she was weaker than ever, broken.

"Come back to me."

He could have sworn it had been years since he sat on her bedside, there when she woke up, usually never for very long. He didn't want to leave her bed side, but Jim forced him to once in a while. The poor broken man sat there with him and together they grieved their pain.

Lanie, Esposito, Ryan and Jenny had all came back, none for very long, Jim's request, but just enough to let out a few tears at their friend's state.

It was getting late, it was just about 24 hours since Kate's accident and Dr. Monroe came in with some results in his hands.

"I'm afraid to say Kate isn't responding to the medication we're giving her."

They knew what that meant. They weren't stupid. It was either they refused the surgery and put Kate's chance to make it out safely at low or they went through with the surgery, risked her life or give her the possibility to have sequels of the surgery and possibly make it out and everything would be fine.

Rick didn't exactly have a say in this, but he and Jim had spoken about the possibility of things earlier. He glanced at the older man and nodded his head before letting out a long sigh and taking Kate's damp hand in his.

"I love you." He whispered against it. "I hope that you'll be better after this. I promise you you'll be fine."

Dr. Monroe looked back between the broken man kneeling next to his loved one and the father, just as broken as the man.

"Do it, do the surgery. Do anything you can do to save my daughter."


	2. listen to his voice

**Unbroken Promise**

He stared at the empty bed in front of him. She'd been gone for hours and they still didn't have any knew about her condition. Jim had gone home a few hours ago to get some decent sleep, get a change of clothes and eat better food. Hospital food day after day wasn't the best thing ever. Rick had promised to call if he ever got any news.

Alexis has also called, asking for news about Kate and when she offered to come down from Stanford to be with them, Rick had declined and told her only to come back during her Christmas vacation like they had planned. Martha had come back from the Hamptons to be with her son until she got an unexpected phone call about an urgent meeting for her acting school.

He'd sat in her room hours without news; his hands trembled as he feared the worst. With every hour that passed, he feared that she might never come back. HE imagined her limp body laying cold on the operation table fighting for her life, _again_. He was a writer; he couldn't help the different scenarios that crossed his mind, the bad ones and the good ones.

His eyes grew heavy as he fought sleep. Last time he'd had proper sleep, Kate had gotten into a car accident, a bad one at that. He made himself believe that if he fell asleep once again, he'd wake up and she would be gone, completely gone. Erased from his memory forever, he feared that he might forget her if she left. It was the sleep making him think those things; he wasn't in his greatest state of mind.

His Kate, his invincible stubborn girlfriend, the woman he loved. He was going to ask her to marry him that day but she left him. The man hit her and ripped her away from him. Maybe fate doesn't want us together; he made himself believe repeating it over and over again hoping he was wrong. The love he had for her was greater than his fear of them not being right for each other. They had beaten the odds and yet here they where, together. Alive.

He laid his head back, closed his eyes and let out a long sight before sleep over took him.

On the other side of town, Jim walked around his apartment holding a picture of himself, his wife Johanna and a young Kate. She wasn't older than 12, smiling like there was no tomorrow.

He put the picture down and grabbed his keys. He needed to go back to the hospital. Rick hadn't called him, which meant that his daughter was still in surgery, but he just needed to be there when she got back. He'd always thought her job would get her killed or in a life threatening situation, like when a sniper had put a bullet straight at her heart, not some unknown truck driver that knocked her car over.

They still didn't know the actual cause of the accident, the other driver didn't remember anything, he didn't remember the last 3 years of his life.

He locked his door and made his way out and into the crowded New York City. Pedestrians walking in packs across the streets and into the underground passages to wherever they wanted to go. He hailed a cab and gave the driver the hospital address. The drive was long, longer than he had expected it to be. The traffic was bad, it was rush hour and Jim was just so excited to see his daughter that he hadn't looked at the clock. He pressed the button in the elevator and waited. On his floor, he walked out and noticed Dr. Monroe standing farther down the hall speaking with other nurses and doctors.

It was it. He walked to Kate's room and saw Rick asleep in the chair. He felt bad waking him up, but when Dr. Monroe came in with news, he knew Rick wouldn't want to miss it.

Jim patted the younger man's shoulder and watched as he slowly woke up.

"Mr Beckett, Castle. The surgery went well with just a few complications. Kate Beckett experienced a seizure during the surgery due to the brain trauma, but we were able to get it under control and medicate her." The elder doctor explained.

Rick looked down at his hands, then back at the doctor. "Did the seizure have any consequences?"

Dr. Monroe let out a long sigh and gave a shrug, glancing at both men. "We won't know until she wakes up, but her injury itself was pretty bad. We'll do some basic tests to see if something's not right."

Jim glanced at Rick and then brought his attention back at the doctor. "Is my daughter awake? Can we see her?"

Dr. Monroe smiled for the first time since he's spoken with them. "She's being transferred as we speak. I have to warn you now; we had to remove her skull so her head is extremely fragile. And a trick, she might be sad about this sudden change in her looks, just remind her that she's still beautiful and you still love her. We wouldn't want her to be too depressed."

Jim and Castle nodded and watched the doctor walk away. They sat in silence and waiting for them to bring Kate. They could hear the rolling of the wheels of the bed from far.

It seemed like the world had ended right there as they wheeled her in. She seemed so helpless and weak just laying there, flat on the bed. She almost looked, _lifeless_. The wires connected from every corner of her body and her lips looked pale, paler than they'd ever been.

Rick blinked quickly and looked away; it hurt him to see her weak. Her head was wrapped in a tick white bandage and he could see small spots of blood through it, her blood. He held back the tears as the nurses switched her from the gurney to the bed.

He watched her as she let out a few moans and rushed to her side as she called his name quietly. "I'm right here Kate, I'll always be there." He kissed her temple and smiled at Jim, who stood on the other side of the bed.

"Excuse me miss, can she see us?" Jim asked the nurse who was fixing her wires.

"The blood that was blocking her eye sight yesterday has cleared out. She'll be able to see, but it's possible that her mind unfocused because of her injury." She smiled and walked out leaving them alone.

Jim looked back from his daughter back to the man who loved his daughter and then told them, "I'll be right back sweetie, I'll leave Rick and you have some time." He kissed his daughter's cheek and left.

"Hey Kate, open your eyes for me please?" He squeezed her hand and waited. It took a few minutes, but eventually she squeezed his hand back.

"Hey Kate come on open your beautiful eyes for me please."

"Rick" She whispered

"Rick here?" she blinked rapidly and started to shuffle around in the bed.

"Kate, stop it Kate you're going to hurt yourself. Kate listen to me, stop it." He squeezes her hand and tries to hold her down. "Kate open your eyes I'm right here."

He looks around looking for someone to come in and help him. "Jim, someone help." As soon as the words leave his mouth Jim is running in the run asking, "What's wrong? Katie honey listen to me. We're right here."

He walks around the bed and stands on the opposite side of Rick and both try to calm her down. "Press the call button." Jim tells Rick, distressed.

"What the hell is going on?" Rick hisses to himself while sending soothing words to his girlfriend. "Kate please baby just open your eyes, please."

A nurse walks in and asked them what the problem was and when she saw Kate being restrained by her two men, she stepped out and called after a few other nurses and told them to page Dr. Monroe.

"Rick" Kate yelled as her eyes opened. She couldn't focus, her pupils looking at every little things. She closes her eyes for a few moments before opening them again. She blinks rapidly as her mind adjusted to the light.

"Help me." She whispers as a tear rolls down the side of her face. Rick sees it and wipes it with his finger.

"Kate look at me, calm down I'm right here." He tells her and she stares at him for a few moments before closing her eyes and looking back at him.

Rick didn't know what to do, she was awake but she wasn't responding. She didn't listen when he spoke to her almost as if she couldn't hear him.

"Katie bug, I'm right here." Her dad told her as she turned to look at him. A few nurses injected medication into her limp body making her calm down.

Dr. Monroe rushed in and asked, "What's going on?" He stared at the two nurses and the two men for instants before turning his attention to Kate.

"She's not responding doctor. She's not listening when we speak to her." The nurse, Kelly explained to him.

He walked up to his patient and stood next to Jim. "Kate, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand."

He holds her hand and waits as she stares at him trying to form the words he'd just spoken. After a few minutes he repeats his question and again she just stares at him.

"Help me" she whispers squeezing both his and Castle's hands.

"Squeeze my hand again if you can hear me." Everyone waits and the room is plunged in a deep silence.

"I can... cannot... hear." She stutters staring at the sealing of the room.

"Help me." She whispers again. Dr. Monroe looks at the nurse, Kelly and he nods at her. She rushes out and Rick glances at them.

What was going on, no one knew. The doctors worked around Kate, asking Jim and Rick to step out of the room as they did test. He hated this, both of them did being rushed out and left to wonder, what ifs.

They didn't know what the hell was going on, but the doctors looked like they'd just figured something out. Kelly rushed past Jim and Rick and walking into the closed room.

This seemed like _déjà vu_ for both of them. Sitting there just waiting hours not knowing what was going on. Well it felt like hours for both of them when in reality it was just over 15 minutes. Dr. Monroe eventually came out holding his book and forced a smile. Rick and Jim got up at the same time and asked, "Is she ok?"

Dr. Monroe offered them to step into a more private room down the hall from Kate's hospital room and gave them a brief reassuring smile.

"I might have some bad news for you."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Lanie sat on her bed and watched as Esposito walked back into the bed room wearing nothing but his boxers. He smiled at his girlfriend and sat on the edge of the bed, stealing a kiss from her.

"Hola chica." She chuckled and kissed him back. They had a short lived make out session when Lanie noticed the worried look on her man's face.

"What's wrong?" She asked, pulling away.

"Do you think she'll make it out of that surgery?" He asked staring at her.

"Oh Javi, Kate's the strongest person I know she'll make it out fine her and..." She stop mid sentence and Javier gave her a look.

"What is it?"

She shrugged and told him, "I mean who would have thought some idiot driver would have hit her car so badly that she'd be in brain surgery for hours."

"Chica, no one could have prevented what happened from happening. But she's strong, even you said it. She'll make it out just fine."

"But what if she doesn't? What if she has side effects from her surgery and what if she'll never be the same Kate we all love and care for? What if this changes her completely? I don't want to lose my best friend. "

"You'll never lose her, none of us will. And if she changes, we'll just have to accept it but we'll love her just the same because she'll be the same Kate with the same heart. She won't change." He held Lanie close to her and she rested her head on his chest.

"But what if?"

"Let's not look into what ifs and live it right now and see where everything goes." She nodded and whipped her tear and let out a long sigh.

"Do you think she'll be able to come back? To work I mean."

Javi waited and stared at his girl and shrugged. "Complete and honest truth?"

"Javi, be honest with me. From your experience and everything, do you think she'll make it back?" Lanie hated this, if ever Kate couldn't go back to being a detective. It's who she was. Even after she's resigned a few years back, she'd come back weeks after and she took her badge back. It was who she was, she lived on that badge. It's what had made her who she was.

"I'm afraid she won't be able to come back to work. The chances are low."

"She got shot by a sniper and she made it back. They shot her in the heart and she made a huge come back." Lanie didn't want to believe it, she refused to believe it.

"If she makes it back, it'll be a miracle but with the injuries she has, I'm afraid she won't come back."

Lanie lost it, right there. She cried her heart out whimpering why this had happened to Kate, their Kate. She was a fearless detective and now she was weaker than ever, living on a thread.

"Javi, there's something I have to tell you." She spoke up eventually. He pushed her slightly aside so he could have a better view at her and listened.

"What is it?"

Lanie let out a sigh. "I promised Kate I wouldn't say before she told Castle but in this case, I have to."

Esposito was nervous, what had they been hiding?

"Last week Kate called me during the night and she asked me to come over as early as I could the next day. It's when I lied to you and said I had been called into work early. She'd asked me to go with her, to her doctors." This was the cherry on the sunday; Javier started imaginating the worst possible scenarios.

"Why did she go to the doctors? Lanie tell me." Lanie looked at him, it hurt her to break her promise of keeping it a secret for a little while, but this was different. Kate wouldn't mind, would she?"

"It's not that bad, but it is considering her condition, with the brain trauma. We have to tell them. Kate..."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It had been a few hours since their news. They'd given Kate some medication that had knocked her right out after she freaked out.

Jim sat on the couch while Rick stood near Beckett's bed. He couldn't speak to her; he couldn't whisper her soothing words because she couldn't hear him. He never thought things could get any worse. Nothing could make thing worse, absolutely nothing.

Jim's eyes grew heavy and Rick told him he could have a nap. As soon as Jim's eyes closed, he fell into a deep slumber, free from any pain. Rick walked around the room, watched as nurses came in and out of the room.

His Kate, deaf. She couldn't hear anything, the injury and the operation had made her _deaf_. Deaf. Dr. Monroe has reassured them saying it might not be permanent, only time would tell.

He watched her weak body and stared at her chest as it rose at an odd paste. Just as he sat down, he saw Lanie knock lightly on the door.

"Hey, how is she?" She whispered. She didn't know his Kate was _deaf_. No one outside of the room did.

"You don't have to whisper. She _can't_ hear you." Rick told them still staring at her body. He wasn't taking the news well, his emotions all mixed up.

"She's what?" Javier said from behind Lanie. Rick explained the situation briefly, from what he understood of the whole doctor talk and asked, "What are you guys doing here this late?"

Lanie glanced at Javi and he nodded. She turned her attention at Rick and told him, "I have to speak with you."

Rick frowned and watched Kate and Esposito spoke up, "Go, it's important. I'll stay with her."

Rick nodded and walked out leaving Javier with a sleeping Kate and Jim. He closed the door partially and looked at the nearly empty hospital halls.

"What is it Lanie?" He asked her sternly.

"It's about Kate." His body stiffened, his Kate.

"What about Kate?" He didn't know how to ask. What could she know that he didn't?

Lanie let out a sigh and the wait was killing him.

"Castle, this is important, it changes her whole situation." He looked back and told her to continue.

"What is wrong with her Lanie?."

She waited again, "Castle, Kate's pregnant."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

_**tbc **_


	3. more than a heartbeat

**Unbroken Promise**

* * *

"_What is wrong with her Lanie?" _

_She waited again, "Castle, Kate's pregnant."_

As soon as the words left the tip of her lips, he fell. He felt crushed, like the world around him was closing up on him, suffocating him. _Pregnant_ with his child. His whole world turned his eyes weren't focusing. He heard Lanie call out his name but he didn't respond. Right there, right now his world has ended.

His Kate, more broken than ever was pregnant. Lanie was right, this changed everything; this wasn't about her brain injury causing her deafness, her broken elbow and her car accident. It wasn't only her in this; their baby's life was a stake. Only he hopes the child has survived in any way possible. He couldn't think that maybe somehow the child might have, _died._

Minutes later, he got his act together and got up. "Castle, are you okay?" Lanie asked, supporting his shoulders.

"Ya, I'll be fine. It's just a lot to take in." He straightened his position and leaned against the wall.

"Are you sure? I mean, how do you know?" Lanie sighed and smiled briefly.

"She called me last week, petrified and begged me to go with her to the doctors. She didn't know what was wrong, she said the pain in her lower stomach was unbearable and she was always sick. We went and they told her she was pregnant. She made me promise not to tell anyone until she told you. Castle, you have to think, it's possible that the baby might have not, survived the crash." Castle refused to even think about that.

"I need to tell her doctor." He stuttered walking down the hall towards the nurses standing further down. Lanie let him go and walked in to meet with Javier.

Castle's world was over, he felt broken. He looked at all the nurses and say Dr. Monroe from far, heading towards the elevators. He ran after him and held the closing elevator and rushed in.

"Richard Castle, hello." The doctor told him nicely.

"Doctor, I need to speak with you. It's important, it's about Kate." Rick was out of breath, he felt stressed.

"What is it?"

Rick waited a brief moment and spoke, "Kate is. Kate is ahh. Kate's pregnant."

The doctor's eyes grew wide and he turned his full attention to Castle. "Why wasn't I aware of it?"

"I'm sorry doctor, I didn't know until now." The doctor nodded and got off on his floor only to take the other elevator back up. Castle followed him. Truth was, he didn't know what to do.

Both of them rushed back to Kate's room and when they came in Jim was wide awake by his daughter's side as she woke up lightly. Lanie and Esposito stood back as the doctor rushed in with Castle and a nurse.

"Does anyone know how far along she is?" Dr. Monroe asked the room full of people. Jim looked around, confused. Castle stayed quiet and looked at Lanie. "I don't know, she never told me." Lanie told them.

The doctor nodded and stood by Kate's side shaking her a little. Kate's eyes opened and she blinked adjusting to the light.

"Kate, I need you to read my lips." The doctor made Kate look at him and she stared, with wide eyes as he spoke. She tried to form the words on his lips, but she was just too tired to think.

"Don't know what you said." She let out. The words hurt her dry throat and she coughed.

"Water." She mumbled. The doctor made Esposito reach for her water and he pressed the straw against her lips. She took a few sips before spiting the straw out of her mouth.

"Thanks." She spoke, somewhat loudly.

Dr. Monroe asked his nurse to get him a book and a crayon and when she came back with what he'd asked, he wrote _Are you Pregnant?_

He showed it to her and spoke as she tried reading it. Her eyes grew wide as she tried to remember. Her mind was blurry and her thoughts where all over the place, she couldn't focus. She tried hard to remember, she did.

"Yes." She finally let out, closing her eyes as the tears fell. She remembered. And this wasn't the way she wanted to tell everyone.

_How far along?_ He wrote and showed her the paper, again reading it at the same time. She looked around and caught Rick's broken eyes and whispered, "Sorry" at him.

He looked up and met her eyes and walked next to her. He stood next to her bed, kissed her cheek and told her it was okay, they where all going to be ok. Kate looked back at the doctor and remembered she had a question to answer. She thought hard and tried to remember.

"5 weeks?" She told them, uncertain.

Dr. Monroe looked over at her visitors and told all of them, "I need to do an ultrasound because we weren't informed of this earlier and we didn't pay attention to changes in her blood or anything, we'll have to take her off some medication because it can hurt the embryo and we'll need to check if it might have been injured during the crash."

He asked them to step out, except for Rick and Jim who asked to stay inside. He walked up to his daughter, the man hadn't spoken much since he'd woken up but now he was shocked. He was going to be a granddad, or so he hoped.

"Alright Kate, this is going to be cold." She focused on her doctor's lips and tried to read them, with some success. She nodded her head and Castle reached for her hand, being careful not to startle her.

He passed it around her stomach and frowned. Kate looked from Castle to the doctor and feared the worst. What was happening? She hated not being able to hear. Castle looked at the doctor and watched him moved it around some more before smiling.

"Here you go, that's your baby's heartbeat." Castle's eyes got teary and he looked at Beckett and smiled. She smiled back and he kissed her head. She squeezed his hand and fought back the tears, "I can't even hear my own baby's heartbeat."

Jim walked by his daughter's side and embraced her, "It's going to be alright Katie."


End file.
